Islands

From the

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Extracts from an article in The Times of Papua New Guinea in which lawyer Bernard Narokobi examines the role of Father John Momis, a priest in parliament Much has been said about priests and politics. Should they or should they not be in active elective political office? The Pope at best is somewhat ambivalent about it. His public remarks are against priests in politics. In PNG a priest must be free to answer to the inner strings of his conscience and to the call of his people of God. It must be left to the priest, his bishop and their people to decide whether a priest should or should not be in elective office in politics. In the case of John L. Momis, that is a matter for Bishop Gregory Sinaki, for John L. Momis himself and for their people. In my view the intervention of John L. Momis in the political history of PNG is not being fully appreciated now, but will be so by impartial historians in years to come.

The Fiji Times, Suva Tom Christian of Pitcairn Island hitched a 5000-kilometre boat ride across the Pacific recently on his way to get a medal from the British Government representative in Wellington, New Zealand. Christian, radio operator for Pitcairn Island, flagged a passing chemical carrier for the nine-day trip to New Zealand enroute to receiving his Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medal at a ceremony in Wellington. Tom Christian of Pitcairn is descended from another expert at diverting ships Fletcher Christian, leader of the 1790 Bounty mutiny.

The Marshall Islands Journal reporting the first flight it was made in September from Guam to the new Yap State Airport Flight 522 of Air Micronesia inaugurated the $l3 million airfield. Leis were presented to the flight crew and a special lei about 200 feet long was placed around the plane’s nose, wings and tail to commemorate the first landing. A temporary terminal, a 76 ft shed, greeted the passengers on the flight. A sign on the building dubbed it “State of Yap’s Teeny Tiny Temporary Terminal”. A more permanent temporary terminal will be built soon, and construction of a permanent terminal will begin next year.

An Australian, Mr Terry Robinson, comments in The Fiji Times, Suva, about community problems reported in Fiji I have just returned from a visit to your country, and as far as I am concerned if you think Fiji has troubles you should ask your writer to visit Australia for a while. There were six deaths on the road during the weekend just ended and four criminals escaped from a maximum security prison. White collar crime exists everywhere, there are protection rackets, the list is endless. As far as I am concerned, Fiji is a paradise compared to Australia.

The Times of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, quoting 33-year-old Makena Geno after his appointment as Auditor-General “I like my job very much. I planned 15 years ago to become the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed Auditor-General in his own country and I did it in 13 years. I’m very proud of myself.”

Extracts from an editorial in The Samoa Times, Apia, about runway extensions being carried out at Faleolo, Western Samoa’s main airport Is the present government’s desire for an international airport the result of some sort of idealism, or the result of pragmatic realities? Is the project well-meaning but a dream, or is it based on realistic projections of future needs and expectations? On what was cabinet’s decision based to push ahead with the project at a time of severe financial crisis? The government has set its eyes on more tourists, more exports and more revenues, but for the government scheme to work some solution will have to be found outside the normal range of airline route arrangements. If the airport must be upgraded then a proper plan for its future use, at minimum cost, will have to be prepared right now.

The Vanuatu government newspaper Tam-Tam, reporting a visit to Futuna by Vanuatu Prime Minister Walter Lini The prime minister was amazed during his visit when he was shown a cliff about 100 metres high where a small boy had seemingly jumped to his death in an attempt to catch a bird in the treetops below. The report said the boy was sitting on a rock at the edge of the cliff when he suddenly saw the bird fly over and perch on a branch below. Without thinking of the drop the boy leapt into the air after the bird and somehow landed on the branch. People rushed down to the bottom of the cliff believing he was dead, only to find him alive and well climbing down out of the tree. > A reader’s letter in the Post-Courier, Port Moresby, comments on one aspect of Papua New Guinea’s

recently-established sugar industry.

Malnutrition is a serious problem in this country too many people suffer from it. Many health workers, nutritionists and teachers work hard to alleviate the problem. Sugar, eaten in excess, causes serious malnutrition diseases, for instance obesity and dental caries. The latest series of Ramu Sugar advertisements in your paper advocate the use of sugar in excess. I believe that anyone who supports or who allows these advertisements to be widely published to be insensitive to the health and well being of a large proportion of people in this country.

From a reader’s letter in The Fiji Times, Suva When reading news about accidents one is amazed to notice how often automobiles “have lost their control” or “rushed off the road” before killing people. This makes one query whether the vehicles were without drivers at the time of the accidents. Have the cars behaved independently and taken their own decisions to kill people?

The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby A Shell petrol tanker was parked on the top of Three Mile Hill yesterday. It had run out of petrol.

Editor’s note published on the letters page of the Marshall Islands Journal, Majuro Notice to Mr Kiti L. Dear Mr L. We received a letter via U.S.

Post Office with your name typed on the letter as sender. Your letter is quite interesting and inflammatory, as all good letters should be. However we need evidence that you are not writing under a phony name, leaving us with the mud on our face so to speak. Please write again, giving box number and signature so that we can verify the validity of your letter.

The Fiji Times, Suva A government department that has recently installed word processors in its offices is wondering what to do about a rodent or a family of rodents that has made a home in the electronic machine. Officials are puzzled how the creature avoids getting electrocuted. All efforts to flush the mouse out have failed. What is worse, the mouse is fighting back. It has gnawed through the machine’s wiring twice, knocking it out of commission each time.